Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Water Lily

Water lilies are actually not lilies at all? Water lilies are members of the Nymphaeaceae family while lilies are a member of the Liliaceae family. The water lily blossom and the lily pads are usually the only visible portions of the waterlily plant, however water lilies have a series of stalks which connect the flower and leaves floating on the top of the water with the root system which is anchored in the soil at the bottom of the lake, pond or other wetland. There are about 70 species of water lilies in the world and they are broken into two classifications, hardy waterlilies, which are found in temperate climates, and tropical water lilies, which are found in warmer areas. Hardy waterlilies bloom only during the day where tropical waterlilies can bloom during the day or at night. All wild water lilies in Minnesota would be hardy water lilies including this one that I photographed at Cam Ripley in central Minnesota.

8 comments:

Penelope Notes said...

Thank you for the information. I had no idea there were so many species of water lilies. Lily is such a pretty sounding name for a pretty rooted flower in the pond.

Gardening in a Sandbox said...

I have two white ones that are just about to bloom. It probably will be the last of them this year. Yours is lovely.

Joanne Olivieri said...

Very valuable info, I had no idea. Fantastic shot as well.

Artlover said...

well-exposed image, fine.

2sweetnsaxy said...

Great shot! Yep. My eyes are feeling really wet right about now.
:-)

Sukhmandir Kaur said...

a Beautiful and spiritually ymbolic plant!

KaHolly said...

I'm especially fond of water lilies, as evidenced by my avatar! I'm glad to learn more about them, thank you. ~karen

Carole Barkett said...

I love these they are so beautiful